Sheet-feeding mechanism.



J. RANZ. SHEET FEEDING MBCHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED HAR. 23, 1908.

899,138. Patented sept. 22, 1908.

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J. RANZ:

SHEET FEEDING MEGHANISM.

Arrmcnlux FILED 3.23,

Patented Sept. 22, 1908.

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Whneaes J. BANZ. T FBEDISG MBGHANISLL APPL TIGR FILED IAR.23, 1908.

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unirsi) srarns PATENT OFFICE.

JACOB RANZ, OF ST. LOUIS, NSSOURI, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF '10 JACOB F. LAN G, OF ST.

LOUIS, MISSOURI. i

sans'r-FnsnnoA MECHANISM.

No. 899,133. Y

Specification of Letters Patent.

I'atented Sept. 22, 1908.

Application filed March 23, 1908. Serial No. 422,718.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JACoB RAXZ, a citizen of the United States, residing at St. Louis, Missouri, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Sheet-Feeding Iiiechanism, of which the following is a full,`

clear, and exact description, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same. reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a. top plan view of a. sheet feeding mechanism constructed in accordance with my invention; Fig. 2 is an elevation of the righthand side of said mechanism; Fig. 3 is a front elevation of said mechanism; and Fig. 4 is a detail perspective. view of the cani that is used for actuating t-he pickfup arms.

This invention relates to sheet feeding mechanisms, such as are used in' connection with folding machines or printing machines for automatically removing sheet-s from a subsequently acts on the sheets.

One object of my invention is to provide means of novel construction for automatically removing the topmost sheet of a. pile of sheets.

Another object ofiny invention is to provide mechanism of novel construction for feeding said sheets away from the pile and into position to be operated on by other mechanism, such, for example, as a folding or printing mechanism. And still another object of my invention is to provide a novel support which raises automatically as the sheets are removed therefrom.

Referring to the drawings which illustrate the preferred form of my invention, 1 designates a support upon which a. pile of sheets A is mounted. Said support. is preferably inclined downwardly toward the rear of the machine, as shown in Fig. 2, and is arranged between side pieces 2 that project upwardly from a table 3, the rear edge of the support l bearing against an inclined partition or wall 4 so that the front and side edges of the pile A are embraced by the partition 4 and side pieces 2, respectively. An inclined guideway or chute 5 is anaiged between the side pieces 2 at the. rear of the oppositely inclined partition 4 and said guideway is rovided at its upper end with lingers 5 tiat project forwardly over the pile of sheets A so as to 4)ear upon the topinost sheet of the pile. Means is provided for automatically moving the support. 1 upwardly as the sheets are removed therefrom so that the topmost sheet of the pile will always. beclaniped against the proiecting fingers 5 on the guide 5, and in the construction herein shown, said means consists of a weight 6 connected to a cable 7 that passes over a. pulley 8 and is fastened to av member which is connected to the support 1. A bracket 9 is connected to the underneath side of the support and said bracket is provided with downwardl projecting legs that carry rollers 9 wliici )ear upon the inside faces of the side pieces 2 so as to preventtlie support 1 from tilting laterally. A bar 1() that is connected to the underneath side of the support 1 projects laterally through inclined slots 2 in the side pieces and said bar is provided at its. ends with elbows 11 that are fastened to pile and feeding them to mechanism that inclined rods 12 which project downwardly and pass through stationarv guides 13 on the underneath side of the table 3. A cross bar 14 is adjustably connected to the ends of said rods 12 by means of nuts 15, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, and the cable 7 to which the weight G is connected is fastened to an eye on said cross bar 14.

From the foregoing it will be obvious that the weight 6 forces the support 1 upwardly and thus holds the topmost sheet of the pile A in intimate engagement with the projecting fingers 5a on the inclined guide. 5, the support raising automatically as the sheets are removed therefrom. The weight of the pile of sheets on the. suppoit 1 acts to a certain extent to eounterbalancc or offset the weight of the propelling member 6 which raises the support so that as the sheets are removed from the pile, and the weight on the support 1 is thus gradually reduced, the propelling member G tends to force the topmost sheet of the pile more firmly against the clamping fingers 5a. To compensate for this tendency of the propelling member to in crease the pressure on the topniost sheet as the pile diminishes I employ contraction springs 16 which have their upper ends connected to laterally projecting pins 11a on the elbows of the bar 10 and their lower ends connected to laterally projecting pins 13a on the stationary guideways 13, as shown in Fig. 3. Consef uently as the pile of sheets diminishes and the support 1 moves upwardly the tension of the springs 16 will be increased and thus compensate for the gradual reduction in the weight of the pile so that the topmost sheet of a small pile will be clamped against the fingers 5a with approxi mately the same pressure as the topmost. sheet of a large pile.

The means for removing the topmost sheet of the pile consists of a pair of pivotally mounted pick-up arms 17 which have their front ends arranged over the pile of sheets on the support 1, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the front ends of said arms being provided with friction tips 17a that may be formed of rubber, leather or any other suitable ma.- terial that will obtain a purchase on the topmost sheet of the pile when the tips areg forced into engagement with same. arms 17 are moved downwardly to cause the friction tips to engage the topmost sheet of the pile and the front ends of said arms are then moved towards each other to draw the corner portions of the sheet out of engagedoes when he picks up a sheet with his.

thumb and first finger. The front ends of the arms 17 are thereafter moved upwardly to lift the topmost sheet bodily away from the pile and the arms are then separated so as to release said topmost sheet and permit it to straighten out and fall onto the inclined guidewa-y 5 down which it travels to feeding mechanism hereinafter described. Each of the arms 17 is pivotally connected by a. bolt 18 to a sleeve 19, and the sleeves for both arms are loosely mounted on a shaft 2() that is journaled in standards 21 .on the table 3. The two sleeves 19 are. connected together by a cross-bar 22 and the bolts 18, which form the. pivots for the arms 17, also serve as the connecting means for said barand sleeves, the bar 22 being spaced away from the sleeves 19 bv means of fillers or blocks 23 through which the bolts 18 pass, as shown in F ig. A contraction spring 24, which is connected at its front end to a pin 25 on. the bar 22 and at its rear end to a pin 26 on a stationary stop 27, operates to hold said bar against the front end of said stop and thus retain the arms 17 in the elevated posit-ion shown in Fig. 2. In the construction herein shown the stop 27 is carried by a yoke-shaped member 2S that projects rearwardly from the side pieces 2.

The pick-up arms 17 are forced toward each other and also moved downwardly into engagement with the pile of sheets on the support 1 by means of a cam 29 secured to the shaft 20 which is rotated continuously Said l by mechanism hereinafter described, and each arm 17 is com'iected to one end of a contraction spring 30 that moves the front end of the arm outwardly away from its co erating arm so to release the topmost s ieet after the cam 29 has passed ont of engagement with the rollers 31 on the rear ends of the arms 17 the outward movement of the arm being limited bv a stop 3(). The shaft 2() revolves in the direction indicated b v the 75 arrow in Fig. 2, and as the wedge-shaped cam 29 strikes the. rollers 31 on the rear ends of the arms 17 it forces the front ends of said arms downwardly so that the friction ti is 17l engage the topmost sheet of the pie. 30 Thereafter the wedge-sha )ed cam 29 passes upwardly between the rollers 31V and rocks the arms 17 on their pivots 1S so that their front ends approach each other and as the friction tips are then in engagement with the 35 topmost sheet ot' the pile the central portion of the sheet will be crimped and its corners will be drawn out of engagement with the clamping fingers 5. The cam 29 is approximately diamond-shaped in cross sec-tion, as shown in Fig. 4, and after the central portion thereof has passed out of engagement with the rollers 31 the spring 24 will raise the front ends of said arms and the springs 30 will gradually separate the arms so that the topmost sheet is picked up from the pile and dropped onto the inclined guide 5. n View of the fact that the cam 29 operates to swing the. arms 17 downwardly and also operates to force said arms towards each other, I use springs 30 that have suflicient tension to prevent the arms from moving toward each other when the cam 29 first engages the rollers on said arms, the arms remaining separated and also moving with the cam 29 until 105 the front ends thereof come into cont-act with the. topmost sheet of the pile so that further downward movement is prevented. I prefer to provide means for varying the tension of the springs 30, and in the construction 119 herein shown said means consists of a stud or bolt 32 adjustably mounted in an elongated slot 33 in the arm and having the front end of the spring 30 connected thereto, the rear end of said spring being connected to the cross-bar 22. By moving the stud 32 towards the front end of said slot I increase the tension of the spring 30 and diminish the tension by moving the stud toward the rear end of the slot. 120

Rollers 34 and 35 are arranged iu the inclined guideway 5 adjacent the upper and lower ends thereof to help the sheets travel down said guideway, and at the lower end of the guideway are stop fingers 36 which arrest 125 the downward movement of the sheets. These stop lingers 36 project upwardly through elongated slots 37 in the guideway 5 and are carried by a shaft 3S provided at its righthand end with an arm 39 that is acted 130 ses, 133 i 8 on intermittently by a rotating cam so as to rock said shaft and thus depress the sto fingers 36, thereby releasing the sheet whic i contacts with said fingers and permitting it to move into position to be engaged by the mechanism which feeds it to the apparatus that subsequently acts on the sheet. The shaft 38 is rocked in the opposite direction to restore the stop fingers to normal position by means of a spring 40 connected at one end to the table 3 and at its opposite end to a laterally projecting pin on the shaft, as shown in Fie'. 2.

Th: means which feeds the sheet to the mechanism that subsequently acts on it, consists of a pair of endless belts or chains 41 arranged adjacent the sides of the table 3 and at the rear of the stop fingers 36, each of said belts being pre-vided with a plurality of contact devices 42 that engage thc sheets and feed them rearwardly in the direction indicated by the arrow X in F ig. 2. Each belt or chain 41 passes over a drive pulley 43 and an idler 44 and the idlers and drive pulleys for both belts are carried by a frame which consists of two side pieces 45 and a. cross brace 46 that connects said side pieces together, the side pieces being adjustably connected to stationary brackets 47 by means of screws 4S. The drive pulleys 43 for both belts are secured to a shaft 49 which is journaled in the front ends of the side pieces 45 of said frame, and said shaft is provided with a sprocket wheel 5G that receives a sprocket chain 51 which passes over a sprocket wheel 52 on the main drive shaft 53 of the machine so that continuous rotary movement is imparted to the shaft 49. The movement of shaft 49 is transmitted to the shaft 20 by means of a sprocket chain 54 which passes over sprocket wheels connected to said shafts, and the shaft 49 is provided with a cam 55 that coperaties with the arm 39 on the rock shaft 3S to depress the stop fingers 36. Preferably, the cam 55 is so constructed that extensions 55a of different lengths can be connected thereto so as to vary the period of time which the stop fingers 36 are held depressed and thus enable sheets of diilerent dimensions to be operated on.

The shaft 49 is provided at its lefthand end with a friction disk 56 that engages a friction disk 57 of smaller diameter on the lefthand end of the shaft 34a to which the roller 34 is connected, and said shaft 34 is provided with a grooved pulley 5S that receives a belt 59 which passes around a pulley 60 connected to the shaft.- of the roller 35 so that continuous rotary movement will be imparted to both of said rollers and thus cause the sheets to travel down the guideway 5 to f the stop fingers 36 and thence to the feeding belts 41. The contact devices 42 on the f eed'- ing belts preferably consist of leather, rubber or some other suitable material that will obtain a firm grip on the sheets and the pressure of said Contact devices on the sheets can be varied by loosening the screws 48 and tilting the front end of the belt-carrying secured to the side pieces 2.

I have herein shown my improved feeding iechanism in combination with a folding machine but it will, of course, be understood that it could be used for feeding sheets to a printing machine, ruling machine and various other kinds of machines. Furthermore,

.while I have shown sprocket chains, belts and friction disks for driving .the various shafts of the apparatus it will, of course, be understood that said shafts could be driven by means of gears or any other suitable mechanism. The only portion of the folding machine thatv I have illustrated in the drawings is the reciprocating blade 63 that moves downwardly through a slot 64 in the table 3 so as to fold or double a sheet that has been fed underneath same by the belts 41, the sheet being positioned relatively to said fold ing blade by means of adjustable stops 65 which engage the rear edge of the sheet and hold it stationary while the feeding belts 41 continue to travel.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In an apparatus of the character described, a support adapted to hold a pile of sheets, pick-up arms, means for moving said pick-up arms toward the pile and relatively to each other to cause them to engage the top most sheetof the pile, lift it bodily from the pile and thereafter release it, and means for carrying said sheet to mechanism which sub- .sequently acts on it; substantially as described.

2. In an ap )aratus of the character described, an inclined support adapted to hold a pile of sheets, piek-up arms, means for moving said pick-up arms downwardly and reiatively to each other to cause them te engage the topmost sheet of the pile, lift it bodily from the pile and thereafter release it, and a guideway onto which the sheet drops after it has been released by said pick-up arms; substantially as described.

3. In an ap aratus of the character described, an inc ined support adapted4 to hold a pile of sheets, pick-up arms, means for moving said pick-up arms toward the pile and relatively to each other to cause them t0 engage the topmost sheet of the pile, lift it bodily from the pile and thereafter release it, a guideway onto which the sheet drops after it has been released by said )ick-up arms, and feeding mechanism which acts on the sheet after it has left said guideway.; substantially as described.

4. In an apparatus of the character described, asupport adapted to hold a pile of i sheets, a pair of pivotally mounted pick-up arms, means for forcing said arms downnf'ardl",7 to engage the topmost sheet of the pile, and thereafter toward each other to crimp or ruflle up said topmost sheet, and means for raising said arms to bodily lift said topmost sheet from the pile; substantially as described.

5. In an apparatus of the character described, a sup )ort adapted to hohl a pile of sheets, roekable bearings, pivotally mounted pick-up arms carried by said bearings, and a rotating cam adapted to engage said arms and rock the bearings so as to move the arms downwardly into engagement with the topmostsheet of the pile and thereafter move the arms together so that they will ruflie up said topmost sheet; substantially as described.

6. In an apparatus of the character described, a support adapted to hold a pile of sheets, a )air of pivotally mount-ed pick-up arms, rociiable bearings to which said arms are connectfv l, and a rotating cam adapt-ed to engage said arms and move them downwardly into engagement- With the topmost sheet of the pile and thereafter move them together so that they will crimp or rufiie up said topmost sheet, and means for elevating said arms so as to lift the topmost sheet from the pile, said cam being so formed that it permits said pick-up arms to move avvay from each other after the topmost sheet has been removed from the pile; substantially as described.

7. In an apparatus of the character described, a pair of pick-up arms, rockable bearings to which said arms are pivot-albT connected, spriiws for holding the front ends of said arms separated, a rotating cam adapted to engage the rear ends of said arms so as to force the front ends of same downwardly into engagement with the to )most sheet of a pile and thereafter move said front ends toward each other to crimp or rufiie up said topmost sheet, and yielding means for raising said arms so as to lift said topmost sheet from the pile; substantially as described. y

S. In an apparatus of the character described, a pair of pivota'lly mounted ick-up arms, adjustable yielding means for liolding the iront ends of said arms separated, means for engaging the rear ends of said arms so as to force the front ends thereof down into engagement with the topmost sheet of the pile and thereafter move said front ends toward each other to crimp or rutile up the topmost sheet, and means for causing said arms to move u )wardly and release said sheet; substantially as described.

9. In an apparatus of the character described, a rotating shaft, a pair of bearings loosely mounted on said shaft and each provided With a pivotally mounted pick-n arm, a bar connecting said bearings toget ier, a Wedge-shaped member connected to said shaft and adapted to engage t-he rear ends of said pick-up arms so as to force them downwardly into engagement with the topmost sheet of the pile, and thereafter move the arms together to crimp or rutile u i said topmost sheet, and a spring connected to said bar andA to a stationary device for elevating said arms so as to lift the topmost sheet from the pile; substantially as described.

10. In an apparatus of the character described, a rotating shaft, a supporting frame loosely mounted on said shaft., a pair of pickup arms pivotally connected to said frame, springs connected to saidarms and said frame to hold the frontcnds of the arms separated, a cam connected to said shaft and adapted to engage the rear ends of said arms so as to depress the front ends of same and move them toward each other, and yielding means for returning said frame and arms to their normal positions; substantially as described.

11. In an apparatus of the character described, a table, a frame arranged above said table and normally occupying a stationary position, a driven shaft mounted in said frame and provided with rollers, idlers carried 'by said frame, a pair of belts or chains passing over said driven rollers and their cooperating idlers and provided with Contact devices which engage a sheet and feed it over the table, and means for adjusting said frame to vary the posit-ions of said contact devices relatively to the table; substantially as described.

12. In an apparatus of the character described, a support adapted to hold a pile of sheets, an inclined guideway arranged at the rear of said support, means for ruliiing up the topmost sheet of the pile and depositing it on said guidenay, stop fingers located at the lower end of said ouidevvay, means for de- )ressing said stop fingers intermittently below the surface of said guideivay to permit the sheet-s to leave the guldeivay, and belts or chains provided with contact devices which engage the sheets and move them to mechan ism which subsequently acts on them; substantially as described.

13. In an apparatus of the character described, a support adapted to hold a pile of sheets, a chute arranged at the rear of said support, means for removing the sheets from sal pile and depositing them in said chute, stop fingers arranged at the lower end of said chute, a rock shaftto which said stop fingers *s are connected, am adjustable cam for rocking l signature in the presence of two witnesses, said shaft to depress the sto ugers and pers this twentieth day of March, 1908. mit the sheets to leave the chute, and feeding JACOB RANy i belts or chains provided with Contact devices J' v 5 which engage the sheets and feed them away W'itnf-sses:

from the chute; substantially as described. F. R. CORNWALL,

In testimony whereof I hereunto afix my GEORGE BAKEWELL. 

